PORT ANGELES — City Hall is already looking at other ways than Harbor-Works Development Authority to ensure that cleanup and redevelopment of Rayonier’s former mill site happens sooner rather than later.
City Manager Kent Myers said nothing has been proposed, but one idea being talked about is the creation of a committee that would be responsible for working with the state Department of Ecology and finding ways to promote development of the property, particularly the Jamestown S’Klallam tribe’s “Salish Village” concept.
He said representatives of the city, county, Port of Port Angeles, and Jamestown and Lower Elwha Klallam tribes will meet within the next few weeks to talk about forming such a committee, and other options that may come up.
“I think it’s important that it be a unified effort to show that the community is committed to moving the process forward,” Myers said.
The city is not considering forming another public development authority to acquire and redevelop the property, he said.
But Myers said the site, which is the largest undeveloped property on the North Olympic Peninsula, is too valuable to allow it to remain fallow for another 13 years.
He said it has not been determined how a committee could help expedite the cleanup and redevelopment of the site without a public development authority.
Myers said that would be up for discussion with other local governments.
Mayor Dan Di Guilio and port commission President George Schoenfeldt said they would support such an effort.
“I just don’t want to see us lose what momentum we have going,” Di Guilio said. “If a committee can do that, than I would support that.”
But why should the city continue to put effort into redevelopment of the site when residents who participated in the city’s budget survey overwhelming said they think it’s not important?
As he has stated before, Di Guilio said he thinks the survey respondents likely just had Harbor-Works in mind.
He said he thinks the majority of residents still want the city to help expedite cleanup and redevelopment of the property by other means that doesn’t involve a public development authority.
“My involvement has made me believe that there is a lot of potential down there for economic development,” he said.
“It will ultimately help the city. I feel as a council member that is my responsibility.”
The mayor, who was on the City Council when it formed Harbor-Works in May 2008, said that the council made the right decision. The city gave the agency $650,000.
But Di Guilio also said that the council should have allowed for public comment before it formed the agency.
“I thought it was the right way to go,” Di Guilio said.
“But I didn’t like the way it was done. I would have done it differently.”
Schoenfeldt also said the port’s $650,000 investment in Harbor-Works was also worth it because the environmental and market analysis performed by the public development authority will help any prospective developer.
“I think there was a lot of value to what they did,” he said.
Schoenfeldt said the port, which has eyed the waterfront portion of the Rayonier site, is still be interested in developing a portion of the property — but only once the environmental cleanup is completed.
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Reporter Tom Callis can be reached at 360-417-3532 or at tom.callis@peninsuladailynews.com.
